It's not Atom, nor Pentium or Celeron, the processor in this thing is a half respectable Core i3-2367M (17W dual core SB running at 1.4 Ghz with Intel HD 3000).

I still think $429 is too much for a Chromebook, but then again, the tray price of this core i3 is $250 according to Intel. Obviously the price has come down now but it seems like Intel is getting a good portion of the BoM of this thing.

Also and perhaps of more importance is that Google has managed to sign up a third (and respectable) OEM for their Chrome OS effort. I think the Chromebooks have a lot to offer the educational market, especially combined with Google Apps for Education which is free. It is a much more sensible and productive solution for kids than more expensive and less productive ipads. Reply

I'm not sure that's correct for the X131e Chromebook -- the standard X131e is available in both AMD and Intel variants, but the Intel option starts at over $600. I'd be highly surprised if the Chromebook uses a Core i3 and sells for just $429, but if you can find me a source I'd love to see it. The spec sheet Lenovo sent me just says, " Latest-generation Intel processors" for the processor.Reply

A $229 premium over the $199 Acer C7 is ridiculous. Take a similar machine, tack on $100 to make it rugged, call it a day. The performance difference between an i3 and a Celeron shouldn't matter for this application...Reply

I would be shocked if it actually had an i3, for a chromebook that would be a waste of money. In any case the Pentium and Celeron SB and are more than enough for something like this. They're practically i3's without hyperthreading and I don't think HT is going to offer much gain in a chromebook.Reply

I work in a school, and the most damaged thing on the netbooks we have is the keyboard - deliberate vandalism - picking keys off, then destruction of the rubber domes.Far more important that the keyboard be hardy than anything else.Reply